OK to have 500GB hard drive as one partition?

[Paul D.Smith]

I use XP Pro/SP2 at home. The PC hardware is a bit slow.

I have got a 500GB hard drive mainly to use as a backup for my main
data.

Is there anything (perhaps in XP or in NTFS or from good sense) which
suggests that I'm wiser not to make the whole 500 GB into one partition?

If it's a backup drive then there's no point partitioning it surely? Just
decide on a sensible directory structure such as...

c:\machine1\20070301\full
c:\machine1\20070302\changes
c:\machine2\20070301\full
c:\machine2\20070302\changes

Or something like that (um, wonder if it's better that have "full/changes"
before the datestamp). Now use something like robocopy (MS website) to
create a backup schedule and away you do.

FWIW, I've had to partition drives in the past (WinNT boot limit for
example) but it's always come back to bite me. Once-upon-a-time FAT16/32
meant you lost a lot of space on big drives because of large cluster sizes
but I don't think that's true with NTFS so there's no reason to partition.
Personally I wouldn't partition any drive any more.

Paul DS

 

[Peter]

How odd that no one has ever seen anything
but this sort of puerile sniping from you, child.

And perhaps you regard your behaviour here as mature? Hmmm,
interesting.

 

[Marcel Overweel]

Yep, 4.36 or 7-8gigs per movie. (not 1GB per movie as another might say).

regards,
Marcel

 

[Marcel Overweel]

While another might say things like 'fool you', I would just say: it's nice
to have 500GB
when you start downloading an entire 9 season television serie just before
going on vacation

regards,
Marcel

 

[Cal Vanize]

Yep, 4.36 or 7-8gigs per movie. (not 1GB per movie as another might say).

regards,
Marcel

If DVD shrink is used to process DVDs, then the resulting files will be
around 4 gb - the same size as a single-layer DVD.

 

[Jopa]

I use XP Pro/SP2 at home. The PC hardware is a bit slow.

I have got a 500GB hard drive mainly to use as a backup for my main
data.

Is there anything (perhaps in XP or in NTFS or from good sense) which
suggests that I'm wiser not to make the whole 500 GB into one partition?

I use 1x100 GB for Operating System, NTFS
1x100 GB for Personal documents, FAT32
3x100 for Movies and MP3s

 

[Rod Speed]

(e-mail address removed) says...

And perhaps you regard your behaviour here as mature?

I couldnt care less what fools like you 'think', child.

 

[Cal Vanize]

I couldnt care less what fools like you 'think', child.

[rod speed - clearly a case of arrested development - somewhere around
11 to 13 years old. doesn't the term "rod speed" refer to the flex
pattern of a fishing pole?]

 

[John Doe]

[rod speed - clearly a case of arrested development - somewhere
around 11 to 13 years old.

Yeah, but kids can be fun.

 

[Rod Speed]

just the puerile shit thats all it can ever manage.

 

[Rod Speed]

I use 1x100 GB for Operating System, NTFS
1x100 GB for Personal documents, FAT32
3x100 for Movies and MP3s

Which part of 'backup for my main data' did you have a problem with ?

 

[CBFalconer]

[rod speed - clearly a case of arrested development - somewhere
around 11 to 13 years old.

Yeah, but kids can be fun.

Reasonably well behaved kids, with some manners.

 

[John Doe]

[rod speed - clearly a case of arrested development - somewhere
around 11 to 13 years old.

Yeah, but kids can be fun.

Reasonably well behaved kids, with some manners.

Nah, primitive doesn't necessarily mean bad. Stereotyping kids is
just like stereotyping any other ordinary class.

 

[Peter]

[rod speed - clearly a case of arrested development - somewhere
around 11 to 13 years old.

Yeah, but kids can be fun.

Well if you take Rod's responses as what they are (non sequiturs) then
they can be quite funny. Although he needs to work a little on his act.
They're becoming rather predictable. ;-)

 

[Jopa]

Which part of 'backup for my main data' did you have a problem with ?

I just wrote what I have. But if he`s gonna use HDD mainly as backup, its
better to have one partition becouse you dont need several partitions

 

[Mellowed]

this is an external drive?


I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to this stuff. 500 gigs is over
kill for most situations and a b*tch to back up (if its internal).
I cannot see where anybody needs to have 500 gigs on one physical drive.
At home anyway. I do video and graphics quite often. Huge files on a
temporary basis. This is done on 1 x 160, 1 x 250 Hitachi internals. With
OS/software backup on an external 160 WD. Most of my production software
runs from my server so its not installed on my production rig. All my
'work' and 'work in progress' go unto DVD/CD, and on the external, on a
temporary basis so its easy to get to.


I digress, I would partition it into 2x 250's , but that's based on
nothing but 'I' would be more comfortable with it.

My first computer had a huge 10mb hard drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
Then I upgraded to a 40mb drive. I looked at all of the empty space. Wow.
I'll never fill it up.
Then came a 486 with a 340mb hard drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
Then I got a PII-400 with a 10gb drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
The drive died and I replaced it with a 46gb drive. Wow. I'll never fill
it up.
The PII-400 is 9 years old now and I just put together a new one with 500gb.
Wow. I'll never fill it up.

 

[JAD]

My first computer had a huge 10mb hard drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
Then I upgraded to a 40mb drive. I looked at all of the empty space. Wow. I'll never
fill it up.
Then came a 486 with a 340mb hard drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
Then I got a PII-400 with a 10gb drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
The drive died and I replaced it with a 46gb drive. Wow. I'll never fill it up.
The PII-400 is 9 years old now and I just put together a new one with 500gb. Wow. I'll
never fill it up.

you shouldn't have to 'fill r up' cause a hardrive is no place to 'store' data permanently

 

[Mellowed]

you shouldn't have to 'fill r up' cause a hardrive is no place to 'store'
data permanently

Right. You always back up your data files. But no one file will be 500gb.
You back up in groups, i.e. Documents folder, vacations, etc.

 

[Daniel James]

you shouldn't have to 'fill r up' cause a hardrive is no place to
'store' data permanently

A hard drive needs backing up, certainly ... but what can you back one up
TO in this day of 500GB hard drives? A hundred or so DVDs? Maybe a dozen
(rather expensive) tape cartridges? A million miles of 8-hole punched
paper tape?

Is any of those actually any more likely to retain the data intact for a
useful length of time than a hard drive?

(I mean, of course, an offline backup on a hard drive)

Cheers,
Daniel.

 

[jas0n]

A hard drive needs backing up, certainly ... but what can you back one up
TO in this day of 500GB hard drives? A hundred or so DVDs? Maybe a dozen
(rather expensive) tape cartridges? A million miles of 8-hole punched
paper tape?

Is any of those actually any more likely to retain the data intact for a
useful length of time than a hard drive?

(I mean, of course, an offline backup on a hard drive)

Cheers,
Daniel.

and thats the problem isnt it - a reliable backup to keep all this darn
data in its huge quantities that are just expanding at an astonishing
rate with more focus on video and sound than ever before.

For my personal data I can easily keep the important stuff on one dvd
but the video/sound/software/drive images I have to relegate to the not
important enough to really really worry about which means some sort of
sync to another system or if it is something more important a disk to
disc to yet another disc sync.

At which point you know that if your house burns down then at least
you've got the important personal data which is on dvd (providing you
took it offsite) or online storage somewhere and just be safe in the
knowledge you made it out and can have fun rebuilding the other stuff if
its required because mostly for me it wouldnt be.